A member of Longhorn beetle family / Un miembro de la familia de los Longicornios, el Guitarrero (Compsocerus violaceus)

All longhorn beetles (or more archaically, longicorns) belong to the Cerambycidae family. They are characterized by extremely long antennae, which are often as long as or longer than the beetle’s body. The family is large, with over 20,000 species described, slightly more than half from the Eastern Hemisphere. Several are regarded as serious pests, with the larvae boring into wood, where they can cause extensive damage to either living trees or untreated lumber (or, occasionally, to wood in buildings, being a particular problem indoors). A number of species mimic ants, bees, and wasps, though a majority of species are cryptically colored. Despite a vast literature on host relationships of cerambycid larvae and geographic ranges of species, there is scant information on the behavior of adults of many species because they are cryptic and nocturnal. Compsocerus violaceus occurs throughout Uruguay and is popularly known as “Guitarrero” (Guitar player) due to the chirping sound that it produces by rubbing one of its legs against the upper hind edge of the forewing, which has a thick scraper.